First up win puts paid to a long, cold winter

Mother Nature has been dishing up some unkind weather on the Victorian coast, but it hasn’t dampened the spirits of Portland harness racing owner-trainer Gloria Council.

“It’s been horrible. Apart from the cold, it has just been so windy. I went out on Sunday morning to feed up and found we’d lost a horse shelter – it had been blown flat on the ground,” Council said.

But setbacks like that don’t keep the popular horsewoman from her routine. She’s up at six every morning, ready to hit the track at first light.

“I’ve got three horses in work at the moment,” Council said.

“I float them into town and do them at Yarraman Park, where there’s an 800-metre track. There are three or four of us who train there.”

Council’s promising gelding Shadowlandz (Shadow Play) returned after eight months away from the track to score at Geelong on August 29. Driven by leading reinsman James Herbertson, the pacer impressed in his 1:59.4 victory in the Team Zav Sept 6 Eureka Slot Holder Maiden Pace.

Watch the replay here: 

“At his first start at Terang last December, he ran really well for fourth but came back with a bad cut on his foot. It took ages to heal, and I’ve also had niggles with his hocks,” Council said.

“It’s been a bit of a team effort – Jonathon O’Connor helps with the fastwork, and farrier Nick Lenehan does a fantastic job with the shoeing. I’d been using Connor Clarke as my driver, but when he shifted to Queensland, I gave James a drive on Rockella, and he went terrific without much luck. So I offered him the drive on Shadowlandz.

“They sat one-one, and I was a little worried because Geelong’s straight seems so long, but he fought on and won well. I bred him out of Acella (Aces N Sevens).

“He’s a lovely-natured horse – calm, easy to take to the races, but still a bit green with a lot to learn.”

Council has enjoyed some good success, notably with Australian Bite, a pacer who won eight races and 21 placings about a decade ago.

“He was cheeky, and you just had to hope the right one turned up on race day. He won a heat and final series at Melton, and I think his last win was at Terang at 125/1! He raced until he was 13, but I retired him when he split a coronary band,” she said.

Her passion for the sport was inherited from her father, Tim Bourke, who helped establish the Yarraman Park track.

“Dad used to train his horses on the roads and laneways around Portland. He started when he was about 14 or 15 and kept at it until he died. He was a brilliant farrier and had some good horses, like Barella, who won in Melbourne in the 1950s, and Pedro Scott.

“He and a friend, Ted Jenkins, built a track up and around the trees with a hill – way ahead of their time. My brother Barry, who died 10 years ago, was also into the horses, and his son and daughter Heath and Donna have been involved too.”

Council now hopes Shadowlandz can continue his progress when he steps out again at Stawell next Monday, September 15.

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink